CHAPTER 8: The Eve of the Tether

My wrists still hummed with strange silver light when morning finally broke through the mountain fog.

I sat on the edge of my bed, listening to the palace settle after the horrors of the night. The scent of quarry oil had faded from my skin, but the feeling Lucien's mind had left inside mine remained. It lingered beneath my thoughts like the vibration of a bell long after it stopped ringing.

Mira was in the infirmary. A guard delivering breakfast had mentioned it without meeting my eyes. I could only hope she was all right.

I was halfway through my meal when the door opened.

"You are to bathe immediately," the Matron said.

I looked up. Something about her was different. The usual sharpness in her expression had softened into something heavier.

"Why?" I asked.

"The Prince has requested your presence this evening. The Eve of the Tether. A private audience in his solar."

I froze. "Me specifically?"

"Yes."

"And I have a choice?"

She didn't answer. She simply stepped aside and waited.

The bathing chamber was already prepared, steam rising from pale marble pools. Two handmaidens stood silently against the wall. The Matron left without another word.

As I soaked in the hot water, memories of my parents surfaced. My father used to stand in the doorway watching my mother brush her hair, saying nothing. Even then, I could see how deeply he loved her.

I understood that look now.

When I emerged, the handmaidens dressed me in a midnight-blue velvet gown with long sleeves and a high lace collar. No jewels. No pins. The silver glow beneath my skin remained visible at my wrists and collarbone.

I caught my reflection in the window.

My silver-white hair spilled over my shoulders. My father had called it moonlight hair. Vivienne had called it a medical symptom. My stepsisters had simply mocked it.

Tonight, standing in the mountain palace, it looked like it belonged here.

I looked away.

The Prince's solar occupied the highest level of the palace. By the time I arrived, the handmaidens had already retreated.

Taking a breath, I pushed the doors open.

The room was vast and dim. Firelight danced across stone walls while an enormous silver moon hung beyond towering windows.

Lucien stood facing the hearth.

Without armor or royal attire, he looked almost ordinary. Almost.

"You came," he said without turning.

"The Matron implied it wasn't optional."

A faint smile touched his voice.

"I don't command you. Not in this room."

Finally, he turned to face me.

The firelight revealed exhaustion beneath his composure.

"I invited you here," he said. "An invitation requires a choice."

"Then why did I choose to come?"

His silver eyes studied me.

"I was hoping you could tell me."

The fire crackled softly between us.

"You said I'm the only person who doesn't see a crown or a monster when I look at you."

He remained silent.

"My father was the same," I continued. "Everyone saw his madness first. Nobody looked beyond it."

Something shifted in Lucien's expression.

"When I entered your mind during the Hunt," he said quietly, "I expected chaos. I expected to find the damage your father's legacy left behind."

He stepped closer.

"Instead, I found someone who survived every attempt to break her."

Emotion tightened my chest.

"My father didn't break because he was weak. He broke because he carried too much alone."

"And you?" Lucien asked.

His voice dropped lower.

"What are you, Aylin Lunaris? Are you my salvation, or the most beautiful ghost I've ever chased?"

I held his gaze.

"I am neither."

The answer came easily.

"I'm simply a woman who refuses to be afraid of you."

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then he slowly raised his hand and rested it against my cheek.

The silver light beneath my skin pulsed.

Once.

Deep and steady.

As though it recognized him.

I should have stepped away.

I didn't.

Lucien closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine.

The world seemed to narrow around us.

No crowns.

No expectations.

No burdens.

Just two people standing in the quiet space between everything they had lost and everything they feared might still be possible.

"Tomorrow," he whispered, his breath warm against my skin, "the Blood Moon arrives."

"I know."

"Are you afraid, Aylin?"

I considered the question honestly.

The Blood Moon.

The Tether.

The power growing beneath my skin.

Everything waiting for us beyond dawn.

Then I looked at him.

"Ask me tomorrow."

The corner of his mouth lifted.

Not quite a smile.

But close.

For the first time, I saw a glimpse of the man hidden beneath the prince, the monster, and the burden of an entire kingdom.

Before I could step back, a howl tore through the mountain peaks.

The sound was so violent it seemed to shake the palace itself.

Then the massive glass windows behind Lucien exploded inward.

Shards of silver-lit glass filled the air as freezing wind roared into the solar.